HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) CME: Take the course for this article: Volume 66, Number 4, February 28, 2006 Data Supplement Correspondence: Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Correspondence are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Neurology Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sabaz, M. Articles by Bye, A.M.E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sabaz, M. Articles by Bye, A.M.E.

The impact of epilepsy surgery on quality of life in children

From the School of Women’s and Children’s Health (M.S., J.A.L., A.M.E.B.), University of New South Wales, Sydney; Department of Neurology (J.A.L., A.M.E.B.), Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, NSW; Department of Psychology (D.R.C.), Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW; Comprehensive Epilepsy Surgery Center (M.S.D., T.J.R., P.M.D.), Miami Children’s Hospital, FL; and Department of Neurophysiology (A.F.B.), Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney NSW, Australia.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Annie Bye, Department of Neurology, Sydney Children’s Hospital, High Street, Randwick, NSW, 2031, Australia; e-mail: a.bye{at}unsw.edu.au

Objective: To determine if epilepsy surgery is effective in improving the quality of life (QOL) of children with intractable seizures using the Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (QOLCE).

Methods: The authors conducted a prospective study of the families of 35 children with intractable epilepsy who underwent epilepsy surgery. Parents completed the QOLCE preoperatively and again 6 to 18 months after surgery. At both assessment dates parents indicated the severity of their child’s seizures during the past 6 months and the frequency of their child’s seizures during the past 4 weeks on Likert-type scales. Children were split into two groups according to surgery outcome: seizure free vs persistent seizures. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine if children rendered seizure free showed a greater improvement in QOL compared to those with persistent seizures postoperatively.

Results: Greater improvement in QOL was documented for children rendered seizure free vs children with persistent seizures. This was significant for the overall QOLCE QOL score and subscales assessing cognitive, social, emotional, behavioral, and physical domains of life.

Conclusions: Epilepsy surgery improves the quality of life of children rendered seizure free. Families can be counseled preoperatively of the potential benefits of surgery beyond seizure reduction.

Additional material related to this article can be found on the Neurology Web site. Go to www.neurology.org and scroll down the Table of Contents for the February 28 issue to find the title link for this article.

Supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC: Ref 209512).

Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Received December 1, 2004. Accepted in final form October 25, 2005.

Related articles in Neurology:

February 28 Highlights

Neurology 2006 66: 464-465. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. Wyllie, D. K. Lachhwani, A. Gupta, A. Chirla, G. Cosmo, S. Worley, P. Kotagal, P. Ruggieri, and W. E. Bingaman Successful surgery for epilepsy due to early brain lesions despite generalized EEG findings Neurology, July 24, 2007; 69(4): 389 - 397. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]